Guided by our Principles of Corporate Governance, our Board of Directors has three standing committees: an Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee oversees sustainability investment and performance.
Our VP of Sustainability oversees program development and engages dozens of functional subject matter experts responsible for day-to-day management of key focus areas. We have an extensive risk assessment process designed to identify and mitigate internal and external risks to our business, including data privacy and cybersecurity, which is led by our Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). The process is carried out on an annual basis, with the results reported to our Board.
Materiality Assessment
In 2020, we conducted a materiality assessment to identify ESG risks, impacts, and priorities. We engaged a third party consulting firm of ESG experts to support analysis and stakeholder engagement. This included partners, suppliers, investors, nonprofit partners, animal welfare experts, industry trade associations, and dozens of internal functional experts across the business. We also conducted a consumer survey that generated more than 900 responses to identify which issues are most important to pet parents when caring for their pets and purchasing products. Through this process, we identified 24 material issues and prioritized 10 focus areas included in the matrix below.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
We leverage a dashboard of several key performance indicators that allow us to track our high-level performance, success, and impact across the business on a quarterly basis. The dashboard currently measures our energy, emissions, waste, and water data, and in the future is expected to track additional KPIs.
Business Conduct and Ethics
As part of our commitment to serving pet parents and our communities with integrity, we adhere to Petco’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, Human Rights Policy, and Anti-Corruption Policy, as well as the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010. Our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (Code of Ethics) and our Harassment, Discrimination, and Workplace Conduct Policy provide guidance to partners on how to behave ethically. The Code of Ethics also details the process they should follow if they suspect any ethics violations. Our responsible sourcing live animal certification processes ensure humane treatment of all life sold in our Petco Pet Care Centers. We pride ourselves on strong ethical practices.
All of our suppliers must agree to our Supplier Code of Conduct, which sets out our expectations of them in areas including regulatory compliance, ethical conduct, animal welfare, human rights, discrimination, environmental protection, product and packaging quality, vendor behavior at our Petco Pet Care Centers, and more. Petco provides partners with multiple ways to report and escalate concerns. This includes an anonymous whistleblower hotline at 1-888-736-9834. The confidential hotline is answered by a third party 24/7.
Privacy and Security
Our guests and partners trust us to handle their personal information with the utmost care and respect and to protect it from misuse or unauthorized disclosure. We take this responsibility very seriously and take all reasonable steps to protect it. You can read more about our privacy practices here. Our Information Security Program (ISP) is a comprehensive information security program that includes specific administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to secure sensitive information and ensure compliance with data protection laws and regulations.